ACBM: Part 1 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 — Germanic Mythology

The actual history of what happened starting from the decline of Rome is not nearly so important as how events shaped Western Civilization.

It’s not as if Rome was completely forgotten, but her power and influence in cultural terms were packed away for future reference. Ragged portions of Roman influence remained visible throughout the period we call the Dark Ages of Europe. The mixed Germanic tribes causing all the chaos were generally quite fond of what Roman Civilization offered, but bore with them such an overwhelming mass of their own native culture that it took some time to recover.

We can’t really call it an invasion; the Germanic nations were migratory. The chaos they brought was simply the nature of their lifestyle. They seldom ever invaded as a force, but simply raided now and then until their target was overwhelmed, collapsed to some degree, and then the raiders simply colonized what was left. No one should suggest they weren’t as intelligent as any other people, just not at all organized except in a very loose sense. Keeping track of the various groups, their names and their dialects is a monumental task still ongoing. What matters for us is the collection of common cultural features they all seemed to share in varying degrees.

Again, the question for us is not what they did, nor especially how they did it, but the effect of their time as the dominant force in the lands of Europe. We are just barely able to read from the cultural impact back into some scattered records that explain at least some of that effect. The primary element is their mythology in terms of how it so deeply and thoroughly steered their lives.

Two primary images arise for us from our stand point: Thor and Oester. We can extract from their varied portrayals the quintessence of German manhood and womanhood. These portrayals are still with us as fundamental to our Western culture today. Most people simply cannot imagine one basic fact: When it came time to pay an indemnity for lost personnel, a woman’s weregild was twice that of any man of the same social rank. Underneath all the noise and appearances, women ruled society in things that mattered most. The most stable image is that of the household matriarch, an image associated with the goddess Oester. They were the keepers of the hearth and in a very substantial way, controlled the fundamental identity and values of society. Their control was hardly absolute, but over the long term, uncontested.

The image of Thor is likewise the foundation of Western manhood. The Greeks to some degree, and Romans more so, seldom actually feared death. It was simply wired into their worldview, a fundamental duty. The subtle difference was for German men to fear it, but to still face it bravely as their duty — the point of duty being by far the substance of their bravery. The fear is seen peeking out from behind their stolid sense of duty at moments when they are caught off guard. Their primary defense against fear was anger, turning most threats into a personal insult. By comparison to Romans and Greeks, the ideal German man is somewhat of an overgrown boy. Whatever was meant by maturity was not hard to fulfill. For them, facing danger was a game. While a significant portion of their resources went for toys and buying prestige, they weren’t taken too seriously during peacetimes at home. They were sent off to hunt, cultivate and build to keep them out of the way. At times, they would gather to party and discuss their important government decisions, but these things remained highly variable and almost chaotic. The stability of their existence was still in the hands of their women.

The Nordic branch managed to preserve their legends a bit better, so that the most substantial literature is theirs. Thus, we have the English tale of Nordic legends in Beowulf. Most students never read past the first half of the story, and it’s quite dreary enough as it is. Not in the telling, but utterly devoid of the joy in living itself, just a few bits of fun and games stolen now and then from a gray existence. A serious threat comes almost as a relief; finally, something worthy of getting yourself killed. It was otherwise a society of near terminal boredom.

Aside from the virtuosity of talent for battle and frightening enemies through sheer insanity, the most highly valued art was the telling and singing about such exploits.

Recommended readings: Obviously, Beowulf, particularly the first part of the larger legend. An interesting novel with a well-researched background for the Danish warrior society is Byzantium by Stephan R. Lawhead (used copies are cheap on Amazon).